Kapil Dev reveals who he wants to be India's next white ball captain

Neither Rohit Sharma nor Suryakumar Yadav, former captain Kapil Dev thinks Hardik Pandya would be the best fit. The Indian men's cricket team, having recently clinched both the T20 World Cup 2024 and Champions Trophy 2025 titles back-to-back, has firmly established its dominance in the realm of white-ball cricket, yet again. However, with the Test and ODI skipper Rohit Sharma entering the later stages of his career and already stepping away from the T20I setup, an important question looms large for Indian cricket...who will be the next Indian men's cricket white-ball captain.

Kapil Dev chooses his pick as India's next white ball captain

In a somewhat unexpected move, Suryakumar Yadav took over the captaincy from Rohit in the T20I format, especially after a widespread speculation that Hardik Pandya was being groomed to lead the T20I side. Meanwhile, Shubman Gill currently holds the position of vice-captain in One Day Internationals.

But for the legendary Kapil Dev, who led India to their first-ever World Cup title in 1983, the answer seems quite clear. Kapil has thrown his support behind Hardik to take on the leadership role for India in both ODIs and T20Is.

“To me, Hardik Pandya is my white ball captain. There are many contenders for the post but Pandya is my choice,” Kapil told in an interview. Kapil's backing of Hardik as the future white-ball captain arrives amid ongoing debate and varied opinions regarding the latter's leadership abilities. Hardik's previous stint as captain of the Mumbai Indians upon his return to the franchise last year was far from successful, with the team finishing at the bottom of the table with only four win out of fourteen matches. This year hasn't started much better for MI under his captaincy either, as they have managed to win only one of their first four matches. “Pandya is relatively young and can build a team around him for the next ICC events,” Kapil Dev added.

Hardik Pandya's captaincy stint

Hardik's leadership journey in IPL has certainly been a mixed bag. The star all-rounder enjoyed a remarkable debut season as captain for the Gujarat Titans, leading them to win the IPL title in 2022. He continued to impress the following year, guiding the Titans to another appearance in the final. However, ahead of the auction last year, the Mumbai Indians made a massive move by bringing Hardik back to their franchise and subsequently naming him as the new captain of the side. This decision was met with considerable controversy and sparked much discussion among fans and experts alike.

Hardik currently focuses solely on the white-ball formats for the Indian national team, with his last appearance in a Test match dating back to more than six years. Moreover, the all-rounder does not participate in domestic red-ball tournaments. Considering this, Kapil Dev explicitly stated his belief that India will need to adopt a strategy of having different captains to lead the team across the various formats of the game moving forward. “Ideally, Hardik should also play Test cricket and since he isn't playing, India will need multiple captain for three formats,” Kapil Dev concluded.